Excellent. Thanks.

However, I'm now getting the same error at runtime on this line in my class:

if (_oException == null)
{
    ReaderRetreived();  // Erroring here at runtime
}

Error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object."





>>I am trying to understand events. Coming from VFP where there are no user-definabnle events, it's a bit of a curve for me.
>>
>>I wrote this class which returns a SqlDataReader, and which contains an event:
>>
>
>> if (_oException == null)
>> {
>> ReaderRetreived();
>> }
>>
>> return oReader;
>
>The above code will fail if you don't have anyone subscribed to the event. You need to check if it's null or not.
>
>

>if (ReadRetreived != null)
>   ReaderRetreived();
>

>
>Also, it's a common/best practice to call an event from a single method called "OnEventName", ex.
>
>

>public virtual void OnReaderRetrieved()
>{
>   if (ReaderRetrieved != null)
>      ReaderRetrieved();
>}
>

>
>
>In this case, it's complaining because an event handler requires a real instance of an object in order to hook up the event. You're inside of a static method, which means you don't have an instance reference. In this case you can make your method call static and it will work:
>
>

>private static void ReaderRetreived()
>{
>    while (oReader.Read())
>    {
>        // Some code here
>    }
>}
>

>
>Or, move the code in this method out to a new class, instanciate the class, then hook up the event (basically get it out of the static method)
>
>BTW - the event hook up code can be shortened to:
>
>

>   oBank.ReaderRetreived += new ReaderRetreivedEvent(ReaderRetrieved);
>   // Can also be shorted to:
>   oBank.ReaderRetreived += ReaderRetrieved;
>}
>
>